Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, Calif., has signed a contract with Amtrak to provide program-management and construction-management services for more than 100 infrastructure improvement projects at over 360 locations across the U.S. The contract could possibly exceed $560 million and is being funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Jacobs will oversee in part or in full the design and construction of projects such as maintenance facility upgrades, bridge replacements, track work, security enhancements and station improvements. Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm says the contract, which does not include “higher-speed” corridors, calls for all projects to be completed by Feb.

In an Oct. 15 letter, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has informed Westinghouse Electric Co. that it will have to modify design of the shield building for its proposed AP1000 nuclear reactor before the agency proceeds on its certification review. The NRC letter says Westinghouse must also retest any design changes to the shield building, the structure that protects the reactor’s primary containment from weather and other impacts, to make sure the structure meets safety requirements. NRC says it won’t know if and how the required redesign could impact the AP1000 review schedule until it meets with Westinghouse. In a

Construction now is under way on both the Shin Kori Units 3 and 4 nuclear powerplants. These units will be the first of a new generation of light-water reactors called Advanced Power Reactors in South Korea that use a domestic design developed by Korea Power Engineering Co. Both reactors will be 1,400 MW. The oceanfront site in Gori is located about 30 km north of Busan in southeastern South Korea. Excavation work began in January 2008, the first concrete for Shin Kori Unit 3 was poured in October 2008 and work on the reactor containment building currently is under way.

As the U.S. Dept. of Energy and its contractors rev up construction of permanent repositories for nuclear wastes now lingering in aging, corroded and heavily contaminated facilities at some of the agency’s former weapons-production sites, new technology is helping cleanup crews get at the nastiest and toughest-to-remove remnants. Photo: Washington River Proltection Solutions Robotic arm system, now being tested at the Hanford nuclear waste site, will reach deep into storage tanks and break up different forms of waste. At DOE’s Hanford site in eastern Washington, officials are using insect-like crawlers to prowl the radioactive floors of 177 enormous underground waste

ASHRAE, the U.S. Green Building Council and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America are preparing a new standard to build “green.” Standard 189.1P, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, will define the minimum requirements for high-performance green buildings. But ASHRAE first is seeking research proposals to develop a user’s manual for the new standard. Proposals are due on Nov. 9. For more information, visit www.ashrae.org/technology/page/548. ASHRAE also is accepting proposals for a User’s Manual for Standard 90.1-2010, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The 2010 standard, which will be published next

After Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan, convened to renegotiate a hastily approved, $3.65-billion reconstruction bill late in September, a new budget now has been released, requesting the same value. The “Special Statute for Reconstruction for Post-Typhoon Morakot Disaster,” announced on Oct. 12, calls for the Yuan to set up a reconstruction implementation committee with Premier Wu Dun-yih and Vice Premier Eric Li-luan Chu as primary overseers of the three-year reconstruction program. Photo: AP/Worldwide Taiwan typhoon damage is still being assessed, mostly in rural areas. For now, immediate attention is slowly shifting away from relief efforts and moving toward cleanup and

Phase-three construction of Bahrain’s artificial, 20-sq-kilometer Durrat island will start next year following a recent design contract award to the local office of U.K.-based W.S. Atkins PLC by owner Durrat Khaleej al Bahrain. Work, covering 800,000 sq m, includes 570 homes and associated facilities on the last four of 13 planned islands. The first two phases are in construction following the start of design in 2004. Related Links: ASHRAE Developing Manuals for New 'Green' Standards Brisbane's Unique Long-Span Pedestrian Crossing Opens Jacobs Gets Long-Term Amtrak Infrastructure Improvement Job Corps Reorganizes Mideast Operations AP1000 Reactor Design Issues Concern NRC

With three projects under construction and three more scheduled to start by the end of the year, officials in Guangzhou, China, are spending nearly $1 billion to prepare the north axis of the city’s center for the 16th Asian Games, which begin on Nov. 12, 2010. Although near-term activity is focused on improving the north axis, which covers 5.9 sq kilometers, the city has even more ambitious long-term plans, valued at $6.5 billion worth of construction, for the adjacent 16.1-sq-kilometer area, called the south axis. Photo: Heller Manus Architects Plans call for a central park crossed by city streets and

The Senate on Oct. 15 approved the $33.5 billion fiscal 2010 water and energy conference report by an 80-17 vote. The bill now goes to the president for his expected signature. The energy and water bill is the third fiscal 2010 spending bill to be approved by a conference committee this fall. The Senate approved conference reports funding the legislative branch on September 30, and the Dept. of Agriculture on Oct. 8. The energy and water bill includes $5.4 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, $43 million above the amount appropriated in fiscal 2009. The total includes $2

New Orleans, we won’t forget you, President Barack Obama said during a visit to the city October 15. The President and his cabinet will continue to assist the recovery and future protection of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, both of which he says are critical to the nation’s environmental and economic vitality. He made his pledge while acknowledging the administration has other formidable challenges in reviving the economy and overhauling health care Photo: Angelle Bergeron President Obama reassured the Gulf Coast and New Orleans of his support, and most of the audience cheered him. Photo: Angelle Bergeron “I